Publications by authors named "Ziroyannis P"

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), which is caused by mutations in polycystins 1 (PC1) and 2 (PC2), is one of the most commonly inherited renal diseases, affecting ~1 : 1000 Caucasians.

Materials And Methods: We screened Greek ADPKD patients with the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) assay and direct sequencing.

Results: We identified a patient homozygous for a nucleotide change c.

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Background And Objectives: The objective of this paper is to present 5 years' experience of pathogen inactivation of fresh-frozen plasma with the methylene blue system in a blood centre in Athens.

Materials And Methods: Eight thousand and five hundred units treated by methylene blue and 54 435 untreated were issued for transfusion in four hospitals during the period 2000-2005. Eighty-eight units were evaluated for changes in coagulation factor activity and cytokine concentrations following treatment.

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Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease. Less than 1% of patients with APS present with life-threatening catastrophic APS (CAPS). We report here a case of CAPS in a young girl with cardiac, gastrointestinal and renal involvement.

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Background: The cellular and humoral factors involved in the pathogenesis of glomerulosclerosis and renal fibrosis following a crescentic glomerulonephritis have not been fully elucidated. Myofibroblasts and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) have been implicated in the development of experimental and clinical renal fibrosis. We have attempted to identify these mediators in crescentic glomerulonephritis and determine their role in the progression of the disease.

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There is evidence that PAF may be produced during hemodialysis (HD) mainly when using cuprophane membrane (CU). It is also known that PAF production is dependent on the amount of extracellular calcium (ECa2+). In the present study, we investigated the production of PAF during HD with CU as well as the role of the Ca2+ in the dialysate with respect to PAF production.

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PAF represents a new family of glycerophospholipids and possesses multiple biological activities including platelet aggregation. Production of PAF has been demonstrated in a number of different cell types and in response to various stimuli. In this work an attempt is made to study the effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) on PAF production.

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To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of two cases with concomitant secondary hyperparathyroidism and thyroid cancer. Despite previously published reports of a possible association between primary hyperparathyroidism and non-medullary thyroid cancer, we believe that such an association is coincidental. Nevertheless, increased awareness of the possibility of encountering and treating both diseases at the same time is advisable.

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The effect of serum calcium on the myocardial damages produced by isoproterenol was studied in the dog. Hemodialysis for 80 min in the absence of calcium was used to alter serum calcium concentration in seven experimental animals. The same number of animals were dialysed in the presence of calcium and were used as controls.

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Thirty nine patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, were submitted to brain computerized tomography in order to investigate the probable existence of brain atrophy. Evaluation was done by measuring the size of brain ventricles by means of a planimeter. An enlargement of the ventricles ranging from 1.

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